BOUNTIFUL – A Utah Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control-requested study says Davis County could use two more liquor stores.

One additional state liquor store is recommended for the fast growing northwest part of the county, specifically listing Syracuse, Clearfield and the Layton area. Another store is recommended for the central part of the county, or Farmington, Fruit Heights and Kaysville.

That’s based on a population formula where a liquor store would serve a base group of 48,000 people. It also looked at proposed new housing developments planned along the Wasatch Front.

The study was compiled by graduate students from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. Data was compiled from public documents, such as city building permit data.

Clearfield has five new housing developments planned, Syracuse 16, and Layton had the fourth highest number of new housing permits approved in 2012 in the state, at 751 units, the study said. Farmington and Kaysville each have eight new housing developments planned, the study said, and Fruit Heights has three such projects in the works.

In additional, average yearly liquor store sales for 2012 were listed to measure recent performance in each city and adjoining areas, study documentation said.

“This is the very first step in a long process,” said Vicki Ashby, information officer for the DABC.

She said that following a previously-conducted legislative audit, it was suggested last January that a strategic plan be created. That should be done before any additional stores are considered, she said.

“This is preliminary,” Ashby emphasized. “It’s a long process.”

Proposed store sites would be placed on a building list along with all other state projects, such as for universities; then the legislature would have to approve funding.

“There has to be local consent and all the proximity issues” have to be considered, she said.

For example, there are distance requirements that must be met from schools and churches.

“We would prefer to have commercial uses that would be of greater use to the residents of the community,” said Kaysville City Manager John Thacker.

Farmington Mayor Scott Harbertson said that while Farmington is a growing community, “becoming more and more diverse, I would be very surprised if there were one (built) in Farmington.”

The study did not indicate any need for an additional store in south Davis. Currently, there are liquor stores in Bountiful and Layton.